Blood and Bullets Read Online Free PDF

shuffle of a zombie, not the predator glide of a vampire. Putting my hand on his head to hold him back, I put the stake under his ribcage.
    Dead eyes looked at me, glazed over in a sickly yellow cast. His jaw worked mechanically, the teeth chomping up and down slowly. He wasn’t really trying to get to me, just going through the motions. There was a bit of wiggling the stake to hit his heart, but he just stood there until I dusted him. It was actually pretty pathetic.
    The vampires on the other side of Nyteblade were in a frenzy. They leaped and crawled over each other like a mound of rats. Still howling, hissing, and spitting, they boiled in a knot of undead fury. I knew they were frustrated by being held off by the cross. I knew they could smell the blood under my jacket. I knew they were pissed off that so many of their kind had been killed tonight.
    I knew I didn’t care about any of that.
    The blessed crucifix from my pocket wrapped around my right hand. It sparked into white light in the presence of the vampires. Next out were the shooter tubes full of holy water. There were five of them, and they held about an ounce each.
    That may not sound like much, but holy water acts like acid on the undead, and for some reason, it even works through the clothes they wear. A few drops would repel a vampire, no problem. The tubes were hard plastic and the lids were rubber corks sealed with a ring of wax. You could pop the top on them with one hand. Sliding back behind Nyteblade, I put my mouth by his ear again. He smelled sour, fear pouring through his sweat, pulling all the acidity out of his skin. He jumped when I spoke.
    â€œKeep that cross held high, but you follow me. You have to keep up. If they separate us, you will die.”
    I snapped my fingers to make sure Nyteblade heard me. He nodded, dripping sweat into his eyes in spite of the cool night air. His arms were visibly shaking from holding the cross up for so long. That cross had to weigh at least twice as much as my gun, so I knew he was nearing the end of his stamina.
    I hoped he was up to running after me, because if he fell behind he would be dead before I could turn around. We just had to make it past these vampires and around the corner; then it was only a short run to the Comet. If I could just get him to the Comet, I could get his ass out of here. Then I could start making headway on what was going on tonight.
    One of the holy waters went between my teeth, then two in each hand. I had the tubes separated by a finger so that a quick open-and-close motion with my hand would drop one; then I could flip the cap from the second one. Moving in front of Nyteblade, I used my thumbs to snap off the caps on the first two tubes.
    The vampires were all frothing like dogs at the end of a chain, held back only by the edge of holy light from the cross Nyteblade had and the crucifix in my right fist. Teeth clenched on the holy water, I screamed to let Nyteblade know I was ready. My legs were tensed in a sprinter’s stance when I raised my hands and brought them down in an X, crossing across my body, and then throwing them back up and out to the sides of my chest. Moonlight glittered on the holy water as it flew from the tubes and out onto the mass of vampires.
    The effect was instantaneous.
    What little hearing I had recovered from the gunfire was stolen in a dash of undead screams. The mass parted like the Red Sea as vampires flung themselves from the path of the holy water. Bloodsuckers convulsed and jerked as it began to eat into them. They were so tightly packed when I flung the holy water that, in their flailing, the ones I hit rubbed it onto the ones I didn’t. Smoke rose from the vampires and there were small flashes of flame where some got an especially strong shot of it. They roiled back against the brick walls and spilled out of the alley end. Some ran off, but most fell to the ground.
    Opening and closing my hands, I dropped the two empty vials to the